


Teeth

by MossGreen_of_Teeth



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:40:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28972971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MossGreen_of_Teeth/pseuds/MossGreen_of_Teeth
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

“FUCK!” Jacob shrieked in surprise as he tripped over wiry roots of a young tree at the feet of the last person in the world he wanted to see. He punched the ground in frustration. Sparks flew from his fists before he could rein himself in. Lohth blended well with the dark woods, staring down at Jacob dispassionately.

“Please,” Jacob yelled before he could stop himself and threw his arm backwards to point in the direction he’d just come from, “The city is already on fire! Can’t you come break my face when this isn’t happening!? Son of- Fuck- Dr. White is dead!” he screamed shrilly, his eyes filling with tears. He looked back at the ground, breathing heavily. “I couldn’t save her, she burned, she burned…” he mumbled, “What am I supposed to do? I can’t…” he sputtered, his sweaty brown hair fell in front of his eyes, “Just kill me, just…get it over with,”

Lohth stared down at his son, on his knees in the mud, covered in ash and dirt, and then looked up at the black smoke mixing with the night sky.

Fire rained down through the trees from the hospital above. Jacob tensed as a branch snapped behind him and whipped his head back to look. Yes. He was still chasing, and he hung his head again, growling in frustration. There was no way out of this one.

“There is nowhere you can go, kiddo,” said his pursuer.

Jacob sneered.

Lohth stared down at him.

The dark figure pushed through the foliage with burning hands. The trees were all on fire now as well. He paused in the darkness, his wide yellow eyes stopping on Lohth in surprise.

Jacob glared back at the man and then up at Lohth, who was not moving. Gingerly he drew himself back up onto his feet. Lohth did not look at him. His eyes went wide.

“Lohth,” the man said, looking between him and Jacob quickly.

Lohth tilted his head but otherwise did nothing.

Jacob quickly stepped out of Lohths way, watching him with wide eyes.

The man dropped his hands at his sides, though he still burned at the edges, contrasting with the blazing trees behind him. Lohth stepped forward silently and the man jerked backwards. He sneered in surprise, looking between him and Jacob.

Jacob backed up a few more paces as the two demons of fire sized each other up. The man spread his arms out wide and his black hands burned white, sending out a painful haze of hot air. Jacob flinched and turned his eyes away.

Lohth didn’t blink as he stepped forward again.

The man’s yellow eyes grew wider still, and he shot fire into the ground, melting the earth between them until it was red and shifting like lava.

Lohth stepped forward, his foot sank into the burning earth, and as the man shot more heat into the ground, Lohth stepped forward again. He walked on unbothered even as the man melted earth faster and faster, backing up in a growing panic.

It did _nothing_ to stop him.

The man turned and ran, straight into the white fire.

And Lohth followed, disappearing into the light.

As Jacob turned to run, he knew no one would believe him. He didn’t believe it himself.


	2. Unwanted Human Burrito

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drake and the Boys

Drake shook his head violently, shaking the wet hair out of his eyes, and squinted through the misting rain up at the only window of the church with the lights still on. The third floor up on the right-most corner. There were a lot of gnarled trees and detail moldings over the old building, it wouldn’t be a problem to climb. He slid one foot into an already curtain covered windowsill and jumped up onto a tree branch. Distantly he couldn’t hear Jill talking to someone and he wondered if it was Jacob. He really hoped it was, he hadn’t seen either of them in days and the loss was unexpectedly sharp.

Drake pulled himself up through the branches and carefully crawled over the roof towards the yellow light. He smiled a little when he heard Jacob talking to Jill, only to freeze at the tone. His wet hands clung to the old wooden roof tiles as he crawled carefully up next to the glass.

“—the fuck are we goanna do now?” Jill cried, struggling to keep his high voice from waking up everyone in the building.

“Its my fault Jill! It’s my fault, I did it you didn’t do anything..”

“No..” he moaned.

Cold water poured into Drakes wide eyes from the gutters and he recoiled, spat and rubbed his eyes before rapping on the glass with his fingertips. The two boys stopped talking immediately and the lights went out. Drake blinked in surprise, he pressed his hands to the glass, looking inside. Jacob was creeping towards the window. Were they hiding from him? Once Jacob saw who it was he sighed, staring down at the floor for a moment before taking in a painful breath and popping open the glass. Drake slid in away from the rain.

“Drake? You let him in?” Jill whispered at Jacob.

“What did you want me to do?” He hissed back, the rage in his voice taking Drake by surprise, “Push him out?”

Jill just moaned in total defeat. Drake blinked the remaining water from his eyes and let them adjust to the darkness, searching the two boys for the source of the problem.

“What’s going on?” he asked, afraid to move closer to either of them though they both looked like they had been crying.

“Drake… I’m sorry, we’re sorry—” Jill whisper cried.

“We didn’t mean too,” Jacob added, his voice breaking.

Jill covered his face with his hands, his body shook with a quiet sob.

Drake closed his eyes and grounded himself before reaching out and gently taking hold of Jills wrist.

“What happened?” he asked.

Jill struggled to make himself meet Drake’s gaze, “We killed that girl,” he choked out.

“No, Jill, _I_ killed her.”

“Shut up Jacob, I helped you!”

“What?” Drake asked, stunned.

Jill suddenly reached out, grabbing Drake by his damp hoodie and pulling him closer as if he couldn’t see the truth from so far away. “Lola Kennedy,” he whispered. Drake grasped Jill by both wrists and shook his head.

“Jill, man, stop being so dramatic. What happened? You guys actually killed her?”

“Yeah,” Jacob said simply, when Jill didn’t immediately answer and pointed towards the living room. Drake let go of Jill and followed the motion out until he saw her.

Indeed. There she was, Lola Kennedy, or the body of Lola Kennedy, resting not so peacefully on the floor. Her mouth and eyes wide as if still screaming in shock, her bleach blond hair slowly reabsorbing the puddle of blood that her skull was resting in. He stared down at her, stiffly, listening to the quiet sniffling of the two boys behind him.

“You can go, man,” Jacob said quietly, “I don’ want you to get’n more trouble’n stuff.”

“Yeah, Drake, you didn’t do any of this. It’s our fault.”

Drakes head tilted slightly as he walked across the fake wooden floor, so softly it hardly squeaked, his eyes scanning the scene carefully.

“You… smashed her in the head ?” he asked incredulously.

Jacob gasped and held up his hands, “No, No, she was screaming and hitting us—”

“—And we tried to stop her—”

“—She wouldn’t stop—”

“—I pushed her away and I guess she—”

“—she fell into my table!”

Drake put a finger to his lips, “Shhh, guys,” he said softly, looking at the corner table that was usually perfectly flush with the couch and was now bent inward and broken in the corner closest to Lola Kennedy’s head.

“Did you call for help or anything?”

“No,” Jacob sighed, “I know she’s dead. I just.. I know she’s dead.”

“We were afraid to call for help because if they found out about Jacob…”

“I know,” Drake said softly, both Jacob and Jill just gaped at his calmness. “It’s okay.” he added, looking back and forth between them, “Did anyone know she was here?”

Jill tilted his head, slouching against the corner of the couch, “No, I don’t think so. She came up here and told me that if I didn’t give her the computer back that she’d tell the cops about Jacob and about me…”

“She told Jill that it wouldn’t matter if he ‘disappeared’,” Jacob mumbled bitterly,

“She also told us that Jacob would ‘look good on the market’,” Jill said, his lips twitching in disgust before he slouched back into despair.

“So she attacked you first?”

Jill swallowed, “Well yeah, she pulled a knife out anyway and Jacob hit her in the arm. She sort of lost it after that and tried to scream and hit us. Jacob was trying to stop her from stabbing me and I was trying to cover her mouth when she… you know, fell on the table.”

Drake just stared at them for a long moment before looking back down at the floor, at the corpse of Lola Kennedy.

“…Well. Nobody can know about this.” Drake whispered. Both boys snapped to attention, stiff and confused. “We’ve gotta get rid of her.”

“What you mean like… burry her?” Jacob whispered, his face going paler in the dark. Drake nodded.

“Where?”

“In the woods behind here. Like, pretty far out. As far as we can take her without being missed.”

Jill’s mouth fell open. Drake stepped closer to them, reaching out to put a hand on both their shoulders. “Listen. We gotta do it now. We can’t wait.”

“Okay.” Jill stated stiffly. “Now.”

“Yeah.. yeah okay.” Jacob agreed, hands shaking in fear.

“Okay?” he asked one more time and as they both nodded in assent Drake let them go and looked out the window at the rain. “Okay, first we will wrap her up and take her outside. Preferably through the window. You might have to shove her out and I can catch her—are you still okay, Jill?”

Jill choked but nodded again.

“Right, well, after that we need to get rid of the table. One of us can just bring it out into the woods while the other two carry her. We’ll take her real’ far out and then… and then we’ll have to take all the identifying stuff.”

“Her clothes?” Jacob asked, looking as sick as Jill.

“..yeah, her clothes, her jewelry, her nails and her teeth.”

Jill gagged and ran into the bathroom. Jacob shuttered.

“O-Okay.. and then we wrap her up and burry her?”

“Yeah, then we wrap her in the blanket and burry her.”

“Then what?”

“Then we break the table up and get rid of it and come back. We’ll have to get the blood off the floor but besides that, I think it’ll be fine.”

Jacob scoffed, grasping at his hair. “I fucking killed her, Drake. I fucking killed her, I fucking Killed her-”

Drake grabbed Jacob around the shoulders and held him there. Jacob’s arms went slack as he quietly cried. Jill walked back a moment later and stumbled passed Lola Kennedy to the sink and put his mouth under the faucet.

He waited for Jill to stop drinking before asking if Jill had any old blankets.

“Uh, yeah I have some old like, standard hospital looking blankets. Why?”

“Well because the less identifiable it is the better. So let’s grab that.”

Jill muttered incoherently to himself as he put 3 ibuprofen in his palm and then did the same for Jacob. They each swallowed another glass of water before returning to the window. The lights were still off and during the short time where Drake had located Jill’s white blanket and relocated the body of Lola Kennedy into said blanket, the two of them had stood in terror-stricken amazement at how calm their new friend was being. Currently he was standing outside in the mud with Jill’s backpack he had just filled waiting for the two of them to unceremoniously stuff the unwanted human burrito out the window for Drake to catch. Jacob gagged once again when Lola Kennedy’s head smashed up against the glass before they finally angled her well enough to slide her outside. Jill’s shaky hands betrayed him as he tried to help lower her out onto the roof and she fell limply off the roof and into Drake’s arms, knocking him backwards into the mud. But it didn’t make much noise. Jill could hardly stop himself from gasping as he followed Jacob outside onto the roof, careful not to loose his grip on his own weight.

Jacob grimaced when his bare feet sank two inches into muddy grass but hobbled over to Drake who was tying up both ends of Lola Kennedy’s blanket. Jill skid and fell onto his hands and knees before reaching the other two and picking up the end table. Drake nodded at Jacob and they lifted her off the ground.

It took one long grueling hour to carry her body through the heavy rain and mud, through the ever thickening woods, all the while watching out for other people or ferals. Jill kept seeing people everywhere, just outside his line of vision, like ghosts. But since the other two didn’t seem to notice, he decided they weren’t really there.

It took another hour to find a good spot to burry her and then Drake had Jacob and Jill go look for a shovel or good sticks while Drake ‘removed the identifiable bits’. He had been vague and Jill felt a fresh pang of guilt knowing that he was just trying to spare him the gruesome reality of what he and Jacob had just done. But he complied and he cried as he walked alongside his best friend searching for something to be used like a shovel.

It took two hours for them to spend enough time searching for the right tools, or thats what Drake had said when they had repeatedly returned to the tree where they knew Drake was working. When he finally let them come closer, Lola Kennedy was once again wrapped in her blanket, though now it was painted red and black and sticking wetly to her body.

It took another hour to dig the hole and burry her. Jacob smashed the table into bits and tossed the pieces around the forrest at random. It was still raining when they began to walk back and it was still raining when they got back. Jill had managed to only throw up once more, and had held hands with both of them as they went.

“I’m sorry,” Drake said softly as they paused beneath a large oak to hide from the rain. The world was a blur to Jill and a vague buzzing to Jacob.

“What for?” Jacob asked dryly. Everyone knew it was just exhaustion.

“That you had to do that.”

“How many people have you killed?” Jill asked suddenly. He hadn’t meant to say anything, the sound of their voices had broken a damn in his head that had spilled from his mouth. Drake paused and sank to the ground, Jill collapsed beside him and leaned against his shoulder.

Drake scoffed confusedly, “That’s a weird thing to ask and then lean on me, Jill.”

“Sorry, I’m just.. I.. I don’t know. I can’t believe.. I don’t know.”

“I have information about you two now thats dangerous to you,” Drake said as Jacob lethargically sank down beside them.

“Wha, are you going to tell the cops now?” Jacob asked, sounding disinterested even as his red eyes honed in on Drake.

“No.”

The rain poured down around them.

“I’ve killed a few people.” Drake said simply, looking down at Jill. “None of them were accidental.”

Jill sat up slightly, squinting through his muddy bangs at Drake.

“I’m… I’m a feral.” he whispered and turned his head towards Jacob. “I..know what it feels like to be hunted. Even by people who you love or trusted.” He turned back to Jill. “I know how it feels to want to protect somebody you care about. Especially when you’re, you know, already fucked up.”

Jill snickered, “So you are an axe murderer?”

“He did warn us,” Jacob muttered, leaning against the tree sleepily.

“You don’t care?” Drake whispered, looking between them. “You don’t care that I’m a feral?”

“Even if I did care,” Jacob said, his eyes closed but his voice steady, “You never fucked me over and I wouldn’t do it to you.”

“Drake,” Jill paused before asking, “If we had told you we killed her on purpose. If we just did it for some awful reason. Would you have helped us anyway?”

As Drake stared out at the rain his dark eyes began to turn a faded red and Jill watched in tired fascination as he sighed, “Yes. I would have… Because, I would have known you were lying. I dunno, I know we just met really but, I would do anything for you guys. I know you aren’t murderers.”

“Why’d’ju kill those people, Drake?” Jacob asked.

“Because… they were trying to hurt me or my friends.”

“I’d do anything for you too, Drake,” Jacob responded, limply grasping at Drake before latching his fingers into the soaked hood of his hoodie. Drake rested against the tree as well, looking down at Jill who was wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

“I’m sorry, Jill.” Drake said again.

“Yeah, Jill, I’m sorry too,”

“It’s my fault. She was after me.”

Drake sighed leaning his head back against the tree.

“Jill. People will always be after you and you can’t save them from falling on tables when they do.”

Jill scoffed and leaned against Drake again.

“Drake, whatever you did, it’s over now. You’re our friend now.”

“yeah,” Jacob agreed, tugging on the fabric in his hand.

Drake smiled a little. 


	3. Barrett the Shadow Hunter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barrett meets his boss (Mr. Messus)

It was the a cyclone of snow outside and it was the kind of snow that lands in mushy clumps that mold themselves into sheets of ice. All the trains were running late, or had shut down, the power was off in half the country according to the news, and people were trying desperately to stand 6 feet apart from each other. Mostly. Families couldn’t resist huddling close to one another, a man and his exhausted looking wife stood with their hands resting comfortingly on their young sons shoulders.

Barrett sat slumped in his row of chairs, empty except for himself and tried to keep himself from falling asleep. There was still a ringing in his ears from the virus he’d only recently recovered from, and he had clumped a wad of tissues under his nose beneath his black face mask to prevent himself from sniffling and scaring the people on the train. Not that it would prevent him from sneezing anyway, and he was forced to breath out of his mouth which made his face feel hot and sweaty even in this freezing weather.

Neither hell nor high water was keeping him from getting to Messus’ castle. The snow, ice, delayed plane train in Newark, and this loitering symptoms wouldn’t stop him either. That _motherfucker_ was going to help make all his dreams come true.

Barrett idly watched a girl cutting snowflakes out of paper and hand them out to her family. Another little girl had been slowly stepping closer to see them, she had a morose expression—at least he thought she did, it was hard to tell with her curly brown hair in her face over the too-big mask she was wearing. The snowflake girl noticed and waved excitedly to the newcomer, much to her parents chagrin. Morose girl froze.

“Merry Christmas!” Snowflake girl said excitedly, waving a paper snowflake at her in offering.

“Oh.. I’m.. I’m Jewish,” morose girl said quietly.

Snowflake girl stared in awe for a moment before smiling and shaking the snowflake again, “Happy Hanukkah!” Snowflake girl corrected.

“Aren’t those Christmas decorations?”

“Snowflakes belong to everyone,” Snowflake girl declared, Barrett caught a glimpse of Snowflake’s mother wiping her eyes as she watched the exchange.

Morose girl still seemed concerned.

“I can make you a star snowflake?” Snowflake asked.

Morose girl hurried forward and Barrett felt his eyelids drooping. A quick movement caught his attention. A man with morose girl’s curly hair walked across the station glowering and Barrett perked up.

“Ey, Buddy,”

The man stopped and glared at him but before he could open his mouth Barrett loudly asked, “Where’s your mask, man?”

There was silence as people stopped talking. The entire collection of eyes in the station suddenly settled on the man. His sneer fell and he turned pale, muttering he’d forgotten it in his bag as he scurried into the bathroom. Barrett let out a slow breath, trying to contain the cough that was tickling his throat. He could hear the two girls laughing and the echo of small talk begin to fill the room once again.

He nearly missed his train when it finally arrived. His eyes shot open in surprise when he felt a poke at his knee. The two girls were staring at him.

“The train’s here,” snowflake said and her now happy friend agreed.

Barrett blinked and nodded. He couldn’t thank them, he knew he’d start coughing. The crowed of people struggled to stand six feet [2 meters, he corrected] apart as they all hurried onto the train and he managed to find a secluded corner to sit in where he could quietly cough into his arm in peace. He took out his phone to distract himself and woke up hours later to the sound of the doors opening. A sudden wave of energy came over him as he sped out and hurried out onto the busy streets. His ears rang in protest at the sudden motion but his excitement propelled him forward.

The rest of the trip was a blur until:

**I SEE YOU.**

Barrett glared at the text and the looked around the tea shop. It was full of equally haggard looking tourists who hadn’t slept in 30 plus hours. Shelves of tea boxes and jars full of cookies that said “biscuits” on them. 

**Who is this and how do you have my number**

**It is awfully crowded in there for me, I’ll have you know, boy.**

Barrett gawked and looked around again. Nothing. He stood up and walked closer to the window but it was dark out.

**You won’t be able to see me in there.**

**Who the fuck are you?**

**Come outside, Barrett.**

He swallowed angrily and slapped his ten euro bill on the table before rushing outside. A woman staggered to get out of his way as he stepped onto the street. He vaguely heard an irritated _‘Americans’_ , under her breath as she walked off. Barrett studied the allys and listened to the creaking of the small trees.

He resigned himself, of course the man would play stupid games with him the moment he got there.

“Where are you?” he whispered sourly.

“Here,” said a voice that made every hair on his neck stand on end. He turned in a pretense of calmness, though his shoulders were stiff.

A man slid out of the shadows, silent as a cat, and stared him down unblinkingly.

Barrett held his breath for a moment, his own eyes round in surprise. He’d been preparing for this for two years now and the sight still set his teeth on edge.

“Photos don’t…do you justice, Mr. Messus.” Barrett said stiffly.

Messus laughed but the smile didn’t reach his eyes, “Worry not,” he said, his lips arching into a menacing smirk, “I’ve been looking forward to meeting with you.”

A car slowed beside Barrett and rolled down the window.

“You need a taxi?”

Messus stepped out onto the road beside him nodded, opening the door for Barrett before following him in.

“Take us to the edge of the lake,” Messus said and the taxi driver looked into the mirror in surprise.

“Are you sure?”

“Quite sure.”

“Okay,”


End file.
